Our Founder

Biography of our Founder, Dr. Ibrahim ARIKAN,

Born in 1941 in the village of Salur in the province of Yozgat, Dr. Ibrahim ARIKAN was accepted on the basis of an examination into the Mimar Sinan Elementary School Teachers School, pursuing his goal to become an elementary school teacher. Following his academic success, he was selected to attend Ankara Teachers College. He graduated from the Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Mathematics at Ankara Teachers College in 1968. Over the period 1968-1971, Ibrahim ARIKAN worked as an assistant in the Physics Department of Yıldız Technical University.

In 1972, he founded the MEF (Modern Eğitim Fen / Modern Education & Science) Tutoring School. In 1982, ARIKAN established Turkey’s first cargo company, Yurtiçi Kargo Inc. and then in 1996, founded MEF Schools, an international educational complex that encompasses pre-school, elementary school and high school levels. On February 11, 1996, ARIKAN collected all of his companies under the umbrella of the holding company, ARIKANLI Holding Inc., ARIKANLI Holding investments focus on the areas of “Education-Communication-Energy”, “Transport-Logistics” and “Industry-Construction.” As of 2011, the Holding boasted 23 companies.

On May 14, 2011, Ibrahim ARIKAN was awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Business and Science by unanimous vote of the European University of Lefke Senate in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for “his adherence as an educator to the principles and reforms of Atatürk, his contributions to educating 200,000 students, and his entrepreneuring insight and leadership in various industrial and service sectors.”

He was presented with a “Leadership Honorary Award” on April 16, 2009 for “the companies he established and their contributions to the business community, the system he has established, and the brands that he has created.” He was granted an honorary doctorate in humanities on May 22, 2009 by one of the prestigious universities in the U.S., Roger Williams University, for his successful business career and for making a solid contribution to the world of education with MEF Schools, which he established on the basis of a new vision of education.

Ibrahim ARIKAN is the author of 10 books ( Modern Fizik–Modern Physics; Biz Bize–Just Between Us; Orijinal Fikir Üretme ve Yaratıcılık–Producing Original Ideas and Creativity; Kurum Başarısı İçin–For the Success of the Organization; Yöneticiye Mektup–A Letter to the Manager; Her Durumda Başarmak–Achieving under All Circumstances; Kriz Önce Haber Verir Sonra Kapıyı Çalar–The Crisis First Lets You Know It’s Here Before It Knocks on Your Door; Tarih Ekonomiyi, Ekonomi Tarihi Oluşturur–History Shapes Economy While Economy Shapes History; Ya Yenilenirsin Ya da Yenilirsin–Renovate or Evaporate; Öğreten Öğretmen Öğrenen Öğrenci–Teaching Teacher, Learning Student and has written many articles published in various magazines and newspapers. He also devotes time to working on social and cultural content.

Dr. İbrahim Arıkan passed away on February 2, 2016. He was the father of three children, named Ümit, Ebru and Eda.

A respected teacher devoting his entire life to education, an entrepreneur, environmentalist and scientist, Dr. İbrahim Arıkan succeeded in being a good human under all conditions, and he believed that the world needed goodness more than anything. Dr. İbrahim Arıkan will always be remembered with yearning and respect for the pioneering institutions and organizations he founded in our country, his innovative ideas and the value he gave to education and to humans.